Would anyone have plans for building a wooden geared tall clock they'd be willing to share with me? Sources? Any help would be appreciated. Regards. Mark

NAWCC Member 157508
NAWCC-IHC Member 163

Mark,

Here is one place fore movement plans.

I know there are many sources for cases depending on the style you want, from traditional to arts and crafts styles.

This is another one.


Tom Seymour
NAWCC# 41293
IHC Executive V.P.

AMAZING STUFF TOM!

There's my "something new" to learn today.

Hi Mark,

This is the most interesting wooden gear clock I have seen on the Web. See Web Page It has peg "gears", grasshopper escapement, compensating seconds beat pendulum and maintaining power. I ordered the plans about a week ago and will give a report when they arrive.

Charlie

Thank you VERY much. Regards. Mark

NAWCC Member 157508
NAWCC-IHC Member 163

Plans ordered for the movement. We build our own cases. Thanks again, Tom/Charlie! High regards. Mark

NAWCC Member 157508
NAWCC-IHC Member 163

Hi Mark,

My plans arrived today.... H. Houtmans is an extremely clever clock designer ! There are but 4 "peg-gears" and a peg escape wheel, and no pinions. By using a sun and planet arrangement for the gears, he has eliminated 6 gears and needs no pinions. I have never seen any clock (wood or brass) with such uniqueness.

An article was published by #161 about the clock and I am attempting to obtain that article. Will let you know.

CH

Looking forward to your report! Regards. Mark

NAWCC Member 157508
NAWCC-IHC Member 163

If somebody could post a photo for me, I can show you the case we built that we're considering housing one of these wooden movements in. It's patterned from a (and PLEASE excuse the mis-spelling, as I've gone blank on the proper spell, and can't find an example to save my life) Lentz-Kertz (sp?) wall clock that we saw in a 1 inch by 1 inch square photo in an auction catalog last year. Thank you. Regards. Mark

NAWCC Member 157508
NAWCC-IHC Member 163

Mark,
Email me the picture and I can post it for you.

Tom Seymour
NAWCC# 41293
IHC Executive V.P.

email sent. Thanks Tom! Regards. Mark

NAWCC Member 157508
NAWCC-IHC Member 163

Here are the pictures of Mark's clock!

Tom Seymour
NAWCC# 41293
IHC Executive V.P.

The movement

Tom Seymour
NAWCC# 41293
IHC Executive V.P.

The dial!

Tom Seymour
NAWCC# 41293
IHC Executive V.P.

Mark,
Did I read that right? You made that case?!? Very nice job! It has a very authentic look.

Tom Seymour
NAWCC# 41293
IHC Executive V.P.

Actually, my son-inlaw is the artisian...I helped him pattern it out. It's all solid black walnut, 24k gold leaf, and brass hardware. Everything is hand carved (no pre-made forms at all on this piece). The movement shown is an old Danberry no. 1 movement we had that we installed to see how it would look, but we're needing something with a longer pendulum drop. The only this that was off was the clock depth, which should have been around 7 inches. This one is 5, and was a mistake made due to the angle of the photograph we were patterning from. Ah well, next time. Thank you for posting these for me Tom. The face shown here is hand painted, and cast from a VERY old clock plate he had. Not sure what clock THAT came from, but where he used to deal in antique restorations, it's hard to say WHAT he has squirreled away in his boxes of stuff. Regards. Mark

NAWCC Member 157508
NAWCC-IHC Member 163

Great job! If I were to see that at a mart, I would accept is as a German clock from about the mid 1800s. I have seen many home made clocks that you can spot a mile away as being just that. To just have the picture to look at, I would have believed it to be old.

Very nice work!

Tom Seymour
NAWCC# 41293
IHC Executive V.P.

To drag this old post back to the top, I wanted to update the info on this project if I may. The face was replaced with an antiqued paper dial that makes the clock look even more aged. The movement shown did not function well in the case, so a brand new 8 day movement from India was installed. The other movement was used in another project. The Indian movement is a LOUSY timekeeper, I'm sorry to say, but with that solid walnut case, I have to say it's the best 'sounding' clock in the house, and it's Germanic sounding single bell on the hour and half hour makes a nice contrast to all the Westminister and tuned rod chiming that takes place all over the house on the quarter hours by my other running clocks (we replaced the shown gong with a bell). My question would be, what type movement would you suggest we consider to make this a decent time keeper. I'm not the least bit impressed with the function of the Indian movement, though it's one of the nicest 'new' movements I've seen in quite a while, there's just no timing it in. Suggestions? Regards, Mark

Mark,
the fine work you did on the case deserves a nice movement. I would think a nice German movement would feel at home there.

The problem comes in the dimensions. A different movement would mean different winding hole placement in the dial. You did mention that the dial was a replacement. If another similar replacement could be made, then that would no longer be a problem.

An American movement made for a rectangular regulator may give you the pendulum length you need. The other dimension is the distance from the inside back of the case to the dial.

I have some odd movements, around. I would be happy to see if the measurements of any would match yours.

I can't quite tell how the movement is mounted. It looks from the picture that it is sitting on the edge of a board. How is it attached to the board? A rear mounted movement will not do here. A front mounted movement would need something for the feet to attach to at the top and bottom of the movement. (You know this, I am just thinking out loud here....trying to brainstorm what movement might work.)

Most German movements mount on a bracket attached to the back of the case, and are fixed to a seat board.

How is the Indian movement attached?

That is a very good looking clock.

Thank you Tom! He (son-in-law) did a fine job, and the clock is really just a nice looking as it appears in the photos....more so if I may be so bias to say. (grins) I'll have to peek under the hood again, as it's been quite a while since it was installed, and William (son-in-law who built the clock) installed it one day I was at work, so I'm not sure. The photo shows the old works installed, so this is not a current situation inside the clock. I'll do some poking around inside and make some measurements too. I do know that we mis-calculated the depth of the case, so it's not as deep as we would have liked. As I remember, though, the movement was installed from the front, not the back, as you observe, and is mounted on the seat board as seen behind the gong in the photo. I think that was one of the reasons he went with a different movement, though, as there was no way to attach the shown movement to the back of the clock. I just don't remember now. The face creation is not a problem either. If we need to make a new one for winding hole aleignments, no problem. Stay tuned. I'll get back to you with this information just as quickly as I can. Regards. Mark

Congratulations to you Mark and your son in law.Great job done , looks very old.Nice to see you guys did things the right way and put in quality materials and quality time on this project.
I would think a nice german movement with one hammer would be nice too.
Great job on the pictures.
Don,t know how but i mussed the first posting about this clock.

Thank you very much, Kevin. Coming from you and Tom, these compliments mean a LOT to us. You missed the photos because they were buried so deeply into the old text above. Glad you found them! My eldest daughter shot them for me, and she's gotten pretty good with that digital camera.

If I can get this thing to be a time keeper, I'll be one HAPPY camper. My wife keeps asking me why I don't just let it run down until I get something in it that DOES keep time. I'm constantly grumbling when it strikes the hour and half hour anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes late, or early, depending on what day of the week it is from it's winding. I KNOW I'm not the Lone Ranger here, but somehow I just can't bear the thought of a clock hanging on a wall and not running, regardless of what time it's showing. Does anyone else get antsy in restaurants like Cracker Barrel? All those wall clocks hanging on display, and none running (and they have their works inside too! I've LOOKED!)

Once again, thank you! I know the dimensions inside the case will determine what can be placed, and like I said, we mis-figured that from the photo we were working from, so it's fairly shallow compared to the original. Considering the clock was patterned from a German clock, that type movement makes sense, but I also like the idea that Tom suggested. Either way works for me...Regards. Mark

Mark, i hate to admit it.But when i went to Florida a few years back i ate in some Cracker Barrel restaurants and did not notice the clocks on the wall.Don,t know how i missed them.
Your clock is great and i do get antsy too when i don,t hear a tick tock or a gong or chimes when i am someplace where there are clocks.
I recently went to someone,s home who had 10 times the clocks i have and not one of them was ticking or gonging.It felt strange, i have around 6 clocks going all the time at home.
Keep up the good work for the clock and home you get a decent time keeping movement, it will be well worth the wait.